Chelsea Handler Criticizes First Lady For Having An Accent

This news article/video is about how comedian Chelsea Handler put down First Lady Melania Trump for having an accent. Chelsea Handler stated that she would never have Melania Trump on her show because "she barley speaks English." However, the article quickly points out that the First Lady actually speaks at least five languages, including French, Slovene, Italian, German, and English. This portrays how language ideologies are used in everyday life and how it influences individuals' attitudes, beliefs, opinions and knowledge about language. In linguistic anthropology language ideologies are a set of shared beliefs, such as the appropriate language use or how language should be used by particular groups. Chelsea Handler has a negative attitude towards Melania Trump's accent because in the U.S., there is the idea or belief that powerful leaders in politics should not possess "foreign accents." Chelsea Handler's comment about not wanting Melania Trump on her show portrays the idea that English is the dominant language. In the United States the popular ideology in regards to the English-only Movement is very prevalent in today's society. [Published on 01-24-2017]

Posted by Marissa Khalil on May 3, 2017

Tags:
Power;
Standard Language Ideology;
Accent;
Politics and Policy

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